A Sorry Moment

There’s a musician out there, somewhere, who I used to have a little more respect for. I quite like some of his older, harder-to-get recordings, and I was researching online how I could get a copy of one when, of course, I found his website. Now, what do you think it was that made me lose respect for him? Was it shameless self-promotion? Nah, there wasn’t too much of that, considering he makes his living playing music. Was it rants about other musicians? No, because he was generally pretty nice in everything he said and his criticisms were more general …

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JazzFest Disappointment

I kid you not, I remember the days when people like Joe Lovano, Steve Lacy, John Scofield, Courtney Pine, and their ilk used to play the Saskatchewan Jazz Festival. I don’t know if the funding was cut, or the attendance died out, but this year’s schedule seems a little disappointing, considering what I remember. I was hoping for at least one big name show, something American perhaps. I mean, a big show by someone who colors a little outside the lines, that is. Wait, there’s Dave Holland. He’s alright. But Arturo Sandoval? Bonobo? And don’t even get me started about …

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Bugsmusic Dabang

I know it’s a little late since I quit the band a while ago, but some of you haven’t heard the songs from the more recent CD. I walked into the office to hear one of the songs, which was playing on the office PC. It was being streamed from Bugsmusic, and this is the page where all the tracks can be viewed and streamed from. UPDATE 20 January 2005: That link above doesn’t display all of the songs we have online there, but this one does. And here are links to where you can check out some of my …

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What The End of CDs Might Mean, In Fact

Here’s an interesting piece on copyright. If you ignore copyright laws and download content, then good content will cease to be created for you. This is the fundamental argument put forward by contributing editor Stephen Manes, in this month’s issue of PC World. Manes, a fixture of the highest level of technology journalism for the past two decades, says that “if the digital pirates win, we’ll all lose”. The article itself is probably meant to frighten moderate users of file-sharing applications and does not present any new arguments. In fact, it is full of assertions and straw man fallacies. I am …

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Chuck Mangione, Live

Where else but in South Korea can you see Chuck Mangione play to a pretty crowded house in a big performance venue (about the size of the usual orchestral symphony house in a smallish city)? Where else will people (not many, but even some) stand up and attempt to mount a standing ovation after Chuck plays the song “Feels So Good”? Only, only, only in South Korea. I’m so glad I talked Lime into coming. I wasn’t crazy about Chuck before, nor am I now, though I may try get my hands on some albums to give him another listen. But man, …

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